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Blueberries have gained notoriety in recent years as a superfood, and while the term superfood is sometimes tossed around loosely, these sapphire snacks truly are deserving of it. Read on to learn how they can reduce your stress and anxiety levels as well as supercharge your health.

Nutritional powerhouses, each blueberry packs a wallop of essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and polyphenols. This makes them beneficial to the entire human organism, strengthening body and mind.

Let’s start by taking a look at what the Vitamin C in blueberries can do for us.

Humans are entirely dependent on getting Vitamin C from their diet, as unlike most animals, we are unable to synthesize our own [1] This vitamin plays a vital role in the maintenance of both our physical and mental well-being. As an essential vitamin, it is vital for a range of bodily functions ranging from supporting immune function and bone maintenance to aiding wound healing and maintaining balanced neurotransmitters levels [2].

Vitamin C supplementation has been shown to reduce subjective and objective measures of stress in double-blind, placebo clinical trials [3.4] Without adequate dietary intake, both body and mind are adversely affected. Consequences range from excess anxiety and weight gain to poor mood and immunity [5]. A single serving of blueberries provides 24% of the recommended daily Vitamin C intake, making them a convenient way to reap the benefits of this crucial nutrient.

Blueberries are also a rich source of Vitamin K, another vitamin critical to mental and physical well-being. Benefits of getting optimal levels of Vitamin K range from preventing heart disease, cancer and osteoarthritis to maintaining brain health and mood [6]. This vitamin allows the body to produce unique fats called sphingolipids which are an important component of all cells, especially those found throughout the nervous system [7].

As such, it’s not surprising that eating a diet rich in Vitamin K is associated with cognitive benefits such as reduced anxiety levels and increased verbal fluency [8, 9]. Conversely, getting inadequate amounts of this essential nutrient is associated with reduced spatial learning, low mood, excess anxiety and even damage to some regions of the brain [7]. With each serving of blueberries packing an impressive 36% of the recommended Vitamin K daily intake, snacking on them is a simple way to reap these impressive benefits.

Finally, what truly elevates blueberries to the upper superfood echelons is their polyphenol content. Polyphenols are the phytonutrients that imbue things such as red wine and green tea with their impressive health benefits. These include reduced risks of cancer, obesity and cardiovascular disease, as well as boosted immunity, cell regeneration and cognition [10].

Blueberries pack these phytonutrients in spades, containing polyphenols of both the flavonoid and stilbene classes [10]. These provide blueberries with their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making them particularly powerful allies not only in the battle against stress and anxiety, but also against cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease and age-related degeneration.

In particular, the flavonoid polyphenols in blueberries have been shown to improve symptoms of both anxiety and depression [10]. Anxiety, especially when experienced for prolonged periods, is associated with increased oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain[11]. Additionally, prolonged stress states and anxiety disorders are associated with neurotransmitter imbalances, namely excessive norepinephrine [11].

Through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, blueberries have been shown to mitigate the oxidative stress and inflammation associated with stress [11]. Further, flavonoids have been shown to interact with enzymes responsible for neurotransmitter synthesis [12]. This, in combination with the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties allows blueberries to assist in restoring balanced neurotransmitter levels [11, 12].

While blueberries have something to offer everyone in terms of health benefits, those experiencing excess stress and anxiety may find eating more of them particularly beneficial in achieving a tranquil, serene state of mind. Not only will you feel better in the short term, your health will be improved in the long term, giving you less to worry about down the road.

Ashwagandha is an herbal adaptogen with potent anti-stress and anti-anxiety properties. It has been used traditionally for thousands of years, and its benefits have been demonstrated in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies (1). Read on to learn more about what ashwagandha is, and how it can help combat stress and anxiety.

A small evergreen shrub native to India, Ashwagandha has been used medicinally for millennia (2). Traditional use has come down to us from Ayurveda, a healing tradition which originated in India more than 3,000 years ago. In Aryurveda, ashwagandha is known as a rasayana (powerful rejuvenator), thought to impart the strength and stamina of a stallion. As an adaptogen, it helps the body cope with the psychological and physiological effects of stress.

Personal Note:

Ashwagandha (specifically the KSM-66 extract), is the most effective herbal adaptogen I have come across for dealing with anxiety and stress.

As someone who has struggled with anxiety for years, ashwagandha is now a valued staple in my daily supplement stack.

While this article focuses on the anti-anxiety and anti-stress benefits of ashwagandha, the herb possesses many other benefits as well. Ashwagandha has demonstrated anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, and anti-diabetic properties.

In terms of combating stress and anxiety, ashwagandha exerts its benefits through two main mechanisms:

Enhancing GABA signalling

Reducing cortisol levels

This combination of GABA-enhancing and cortisol-reducing activity is what allows ashwagandha to treat both the mental and physical symptoms of stress.

GABA is our main inhibitory neurotransmitter, which binds to and activates the GABA receptors. Enhancing GABA activity is associated with anti-anxiety, relaxing effects (3) (4).

Ashwagandha acts on GABA receptors to exert many of its anti-anxiety benefits (5). In fact, ashwagandha has been shown in studies to be as effective as some benzodiazepine drugs at reducing anxiety (6). Due to this GABA activity, ashwagandha also increases the effects of other GABAergic drugs, such as alcohol.

A broad range of conditions can be benefited from enhancing GABA activity, including insomnia, anxiety, seizures and muscle spasms (7). Importantly, ashwagandha is able to exert its benefits without the side-effects, tolerance and addiction issues associated with other GABAergics such as benzodiazepines and alcohol (8).

Whereas ashwagandha enhances GABA to help rid the mind of stress and anxiety, it reduces cortisol activity to ease stress on the body.

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the body in response to stress, and chronic stress can lead to chronically elevated cortisol levels. While some cortisol is necessary for normal function, elevated levels over time cause a range of damaging effects from increasing fat and decreasing muscle mass to damaging brain cells and suppressing immune function (9)(10).

Ashwagandha has been shown to reliably and significantly reduce serum cortisol levels (10). This allows the parasympathetic nervous system to activate, enabling your body to repair and ‘rejuvenate’. This aligns with ashwagandha’s traditional use in Ayurvedic medicine. In fact, ashwagandha is such an effective rejuvenator it has been shown to reduce body fat, while increasing lean body (muscle) mass and physical strength (11).

Three main options are available for ashwagandha supplementation:

Raw Ashwagandha powder

KSM-66 extract

Sensoril extract

In order to ensure potency and simplify dosing, extracts of ashwagandha are generally preferred. Both KSM-66 and Sensoril are standardized, proprietary extracts with extensive research behind them. Each contains a set quantity and ratio of withanolides, the active constituents of the herb.

KSM-66 is the preferred option for daily use in healthy people. Made from only ashwagandha roots, it remains true to Ayurvedic tradition in which leaves are excluded from ingestion. Standardized to contain less than 0.1% Withaferin A, a cytotoxic but cancer-fighting withanolide, it is virtually non-toxic (12). Typical dosage for KSM-66 is 300mg twice a day, for a total of 600mg per day (1).

Sensoril ashwagandha extract differs from KSM-66 primarily in that withanolides are extracted from both the leaves and roots to produce it. This strays from tradition, however it does yield a higher percentage of total withanolides and Withaferin A. This makes Sensoril the more potent option with greater anti-tumor properties, but also gives it a greater potential for toxicity (11). Those experiencing extreme stress, and those fighting cancer may find Sensoril to be the best short-term option. Typical dosage for Sensoril is 125mg twice a day, for a total of 250mg per day (13).

In this series of articles, we shed light on the many (sometimes surprising) physical symptoms of stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety can lead to a host of physical symptoms, many of which are easily mistaken for serious illnesses. This in turn can lead to additional stress and anxiety, potentially worsening physical symptoms in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle.

Chest Pain

Of all the possible physical symptoms of stress and anxiety, chest pain is one of the most troubling due to its association with heart attacks. Understanding your chest pain will help you find symptom relief, as well as recognize non-cardiac (i.e. anxiety-induced) from cardiac chest pain.

Symptoms of Anxiety-Induced Chest Pain

Symptoms can vary a great deal from person to person, and from occurrence to occurrence. They may occur in one spot persistently, or they may migrate. Sometimes they are accompanied by other anxiety sensations, and sometimes not. The pain is often described as a:

stabbing pressure

tightness

dull ache

numbness

burning sensation

shooting pain

sharp pain

Anxiety-Induced or Heart Condition/Heart Attack?

Here are the key differences between anxiety chest pain and pain due to heart conditions and heart attack:

Anxiety chest pain typically occurs while resting, whereas cardiac chest pain typically occurs while or is exacerbated by being active.

Anxiety chest pain is often described as being sharp/stabbing, whereas cardiac chest pain is often described as a heavy pressure (e.g. elephant sitting on your chest).

Anxiety chest pain typically stays within the chest, whereas cardiac chest pain often moves to other areas such as arm, shoulder or jaw.

If you are experiencing frequent chest pain and it is causing you concern, the most important first step is to visit your doctor and rule out any heart conditions. You must be confident that your heart is healthy to overcome non-cardiac chest pin. Any uncertainty as to the source of your chest pain will only become an additional source of anxiety, likely worsening your symptoms.

After learning from your doctor that your heart is healthy, symptoms should begin to recede gradually. It can take days, weeks and sometimes even months for recurring episodes to subside . The key at this stage is to disengage from thoughts about chest pain – the less attention you pay, the faster they will go away.

Further steps can be taken to reduce levels of stress and anxiety, helping bring your symptoms under control and preventing recurrence.

Exercise (particularly aerobic exercise) has been shown repeatedly in studies to reduce levels of stress and anxiety.

Meditation is a reliable and effective means to reduce stress levels and promote relaxation. Mindfulness meditation can help to increase awareness and control over thought patterns, allowing one to overcome anxiety at the root of the issue.

Medication may be helpful for some individuals in the sort-term, however it is generally a poor long-term solution due to side effects and risk of dependency, tolerance and withdrawal upon cessation.

Finally, if you are experiencing non-cardiac chest pain know that you are not alone. In one study out of Northern Ireland, 58.7% of all chest pain presentations at an emergency department resulted in a non-cardiac diagnosis. This is extremely common, having affected even the author of this article. Understanding the nature of this type of chest pain will help ease your mind when experiencing it. In time, you may find you rarely if ever experience these sensations anymore.